The photo there looks so... (gorgeous, tempting, beautiful) Hawaii. But what about a slice of 800-degree-cooked pizza or a neighbourhood of murals or a late-night noodle bar? 

Honolulu mixologist Dave Newman from gastropub Pint + Jigger reveals those local stops in my new Insider in The Globe and Mail. And he also mounts a strong defence for the classic mai tai. Cheers!

Zombies. Vampires. Bow-wielding heroines. There are a few reasons Atlanta has become known as Hollywood South. More than 300 productions were shot in the state last year, including The Walking Dead, The Vampire Diaries and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,out this week. (If you're counting sleeps.)

That big- and small-screen imagination extends to the city’s bars, kitchens and theatre troops, says Chad Eikhoff, the founder of TRICK 3D, a local animation studio. In my Insider feature for The Globe and Mail, Eikhoff shares his five picks on where to find Atlanta's creative talent from JCT Kitchen's angry mussels to a Hunger Games hub. Enjoy. Just watch your back.

Blog bonus: Atlanta Movie Tours offers zombie and location tours in the capital. Or as they put it, Braaainss!

With a wood fire, a handful of botanicals and a German copper pot, Peter Hunt transforms plain grain spirit into the award-winning Victoria Gin. And he isn’t the only Victoria resident in the business of consumable alchemy.

From butchers to bakers, there are a lot of people “trying to really do something unique and creative,” says Hunt, a molecular biologist turned master distiller behind Victoria Spirits. 

So where to tap into this current of creativity? Here, in my Globe and Mail Insider, Hunt shares five downtown stops in the B.C. capital that will keep you fuelled all day long.  

She had learned In Flanders Fields in school, just like I had years ago, but was my daughter ready for the realities and impact of war? 
This is my story for Vacay.ca on our moving visit to the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.

The entertainment never stops. So what's it like to really live in Sin City? In this Globe and Mail feature Las Vegas chef Kim Canteenwalla shares five favourite stops in Vegas. 

Bonus tip?  Canteenwalla says don't miss Kabuto, a tiny off-Strip sushi joint where the chef knows just how to take "down a piece of fish." 

Are selfies or stranger-taken-shots ever any good? (I personally have an ill-framed Eiffel Tower photo on hand. You make the call.)

In this feature for The Globe and Mail, I write about Nicole Smith and her business Flytographer, which matches travellers with a candid camerman (or cameragal) in cities around the world. Voila -- holiday memories that you're proud to post.